Project Trig - After 18 Months Away, Is Back In Town! by Mini 360

20 minute(s) of a 461 minute read

So paint match.....(unedited photo straight from my phone)

Old door is the colour they mixed for the original repsray, car is now the correct shade.  Shocking difference but its a nicer colour now in my opinion.  Much deeper shine too!

4-13-2014

Managed to get a couple wee niggles sorted out this weekend.  Raised the front a touch so its not riding on the bump stops.  Looks worse but hopefully after a short run will settle a bit.  Seems veeeery high at the moment so may need down a little touch again.  

When I was away to leave after getting pics taken by Natalie, the boot wouldnt close. Thankfully her boyfriend Greg had a screwdriver on him so whipped out a speaker to force it closed from the inside. Problem was the catch. It closed but didnt close fully so kept popping open. Quick mod to the catch (ake the mounting holes larger for some adjustability) and it sorted the issue. Before and after.....



I also just got an email saying I have been accepted for a hanger space at Cleanfest, which is being held at Fife Airport this summer. Think Players Show but easy to travel to



Fairly chuffed as there arent many hanger spaces on offer and I guess a lot will go to super clean VAG scene cars, so goodness knows how a wee shiny Mini will compete with them!  Should be a good show though!

4-26-2014

So today Trig got a surprise sister!!  Everyone, meet Heidi, the 1971 VW Camper my parents have just bought unannounced

5-18-2014

Located a wee oil leak.  Driveshaft to diff seal.  Leaking onto the pot joint and spraying oil all underneath the car and up the back of the engine.  Lovely!  I needed to redo the engine bay ancillaries paint anyway but this has ensured that the bonnet stays shut for shows for this season as its a mess!

Waiting for parts to arrive (few other bits and pieces thrown in for good measure) but got it ready for the change today. Split the ball joints to release the hub, split the pot joint from the diff and bungeed in place. Quick swap of the seal and back together in no time some night this week. Hopefully sorts it!



Few other little issues. Bonnet catch refuses to close properly (easy fix) and found a fair bit of swarf on the sump plug. My guess is its coming from the gearbox. It crunches into third up and down the box so I think its starting to take its toll. Drained the oil for the diff seal anyway and fresh stuff will go in. Was going to be changing the box before IMM anyway but hopefully it doesn't damage the engine too (why did they have to make the A series share oil between engine and box again...?) If it does damage the engine, I guess it will be time to go 1293/1340 far earlier than anticipated

5-20-2014

MiniSpares order arrived.  All fitted and working well.  Diff to driveshaft seals, ball joint dust covers (old ones get destroyed splitting the joint on removal), rocker cover oil cap (managed to snap my old one by leaning on it) and out of shot, fibre washers for the oil pressure gauge line for the unions at the block and gauge.  

Fitted up ready to go.  Old diff seal had a small split on the ID hence the leak. Hopefully this one will last a wee bit longer! To do tomorrow, fit a 12v socket for the sat nav/phone chargers, make sure all bolts on the suspension are free for the hunter 4 wheel alignment at Reidline on Friday morning and check fluids ready for the Thistle Run on Sunday! :)

5-28-2014

Good effort coming up from Manchester!  And thanks!  Hopefully he took note of the car and contacts me for a feature...........   Post up the pic if you got it in the end! :)

Got the car a full wheel alignment done at Reidline Performance in Kintore last Friday, so it behaved on the Thistle Run. Took them 4hrs to get it right in the end but its all good now. Braking is no longer a scary, shaky/wandering experience. Negative camber dialed in on the rear really helps it bite in the twisty bits.

And now Ive had a chance to sit down and edit photos, heres some photos from the 2014 Thistle Run from Newton Grange to Eyemouth Harbour.

With the alarm set for 5am, it was an early start. It was torrential rain all the way to our pre convoys. Met up with a few folk in Portlethen and headed down the road. It was slightly foggy.



But we made it to Ferrytoll park and ride to meet up with a few local folk, before heading to the start point at the Scottish Mining Museum.



As you can see, it was still pelting down going across the Forth Road Bridge



But that didnt seem to bother my co driver Greig



We set off from the start after our drivers briefing ('The Thistle Run is not a race!' etc etc) You can see that minis are actually pretty spacious inside!



But first, let us take a selfie...



Ended up in Northumberland at one point. This photo was taken as we waited to cross a small, one car at a time, bridge back into Scotland. As you can see the weather decided to brighten up for the actual run, which made life much easier!



The run took about 2.5hrs to complete. Totally trouble free for us, but others weren't so lucky. Thats just Minis I suppose! On arrival, a quick polish of chrome and wipe down of body was all the car needed for the show and shine. Greig was on the case, polishing my tip.



Sun was ridiculously hot which showed off the car well. So heres its arse.



Scott (ManicMonkey) had a co driver too, who took this shot (the only decent one I have of the car at the harbour-side actually)



Sadly didn't win any prizes but still had a good day out. We stopped off at Krispy Kreme for donuts and then headed back up the road again.



Ace but very long day.  Left the house at 5.30am and got back at 9.30pm.  Just shy of 500miles total, with no issues.  I was going to wheek out the box and replace it before IMM but seeing as it coped ok with this trip, I think i will leave that and sort it all over winter.  If it aint totally destroyed, dont fix it. :)

6-1-2014

Another weekend, another show down.  Fraserburgh Vintage Vehicle Fair this time.  Ignore the vintage bit, there were 11 plate Focus RSs there...... Met up with Alex and Chelsea and headed to our convoy start at the ******* and Bull Pub Foggy this morning but it burnt off pretty quick And picked up a few more at Tesco Fraserburgh before we headed in together to make our stand. I was on the corner of the pitch so got the banner. 

 And I got to work cleaning for the show and shine   I didn't win anything (an externally restored purple Mini won best Mini instead) but we did win the club stand shield.  Rare victory when the RS Owners club name is all over it from previous years!  

 Again, no issues for me which is always a bonus.  Home tired and burnt to a crisp but a good day out.  :)

6-15-2014

Well I took this photo the other weekend since the sun was out but on closer inspection at Fraserburgh the paint was covered in swirl marks from poor wash technique and quick detailer to remove muck at shows.



So Greig popped out to help me get rid of around 90% of the swirl marks. Taped up and ready to go





Greig takes polishing VERY seriously



Mirror shine



And a pic of the boot. Just because.



Thanks to Greig for the help.  Halved the time it took to do the car and its now ready for Tain on Sunday (after a few coats of wax that is).  

6-23-2014

Tain was on Sunday and sadly it wasn't as sunny as last years with rain most of the day.  Still a decent turnout though! Joined up with AMOC and IMOG in Inverness to roll into the show together. Car was looking remarkably clean given the weather on the way up the road. Arrived and given it was so wet, the car looked fine, so I didn't bother cleaning it. However I still won second place in the Custom Car class.  I won last year but this year I was defeated by a Westfield running a Mazda MX5 engine.  Not too many custom bits on it that i could see but hey ho still got a trophy! Just shy of 250 miles done with no issues at all.  Think these long distance shows are giving me faith in the long trip to Kent in July.  Next up, Glamis Extravaganza at Glamis Castle in a couple of weeks time :)

7-13-2014

Not much to report.  Could have gone to Glamis show today but I really couldnt be bothered.  So instead I replaced a wheel bearing on the passenger front.  Wide wheels on these things really dont help the bearings last...... 'Gentle persuasion bar' for the hub nut Dirty old knackered things  

And MINI put a link of their article onto their Facebook page.  It proved rather popular  

  Next up, the long long trip to Kent for the IMM2014.  Cant wait for that!  After that, who knows.  Don't know if I want to take it off the road after that or not.  Not feeling the love for it at the moment as its not in a condition Im really happy with.  Engine bay and running gear are an absolute state and need a lot of work to look right again.  Arsed!

7-27-2014

My heater wasnt heating and I had a couple of minor exhaust leaks.  Managed to fix both issues :) Then gave it a wash down ready for minor paint correction and waxing tomorrow before the 600 mile trip to IMM in Kent on Wednesday. :) Tucked up, ready to go Then had impure thoughts about splits.......

8-6-2014

Brace yourselves for another large update post! So after going to the International Mini Meet in Birmingham in 2009, I naturally wanted to go back in 2014 when it returned to the UK, in Maidstone, Kent.  615miles away The car didn't really need much prep work to get it into shape, just a machine polish to rid most of the swirl marks and the heater actually heating the car. With a quick coat of wax applied by Katie, it was ready to go! 9.30am start at ASDA Portlethen with the rest of the Aberdeen Mini Owners Club who were convoying down with me.  Dave in his MPi 'Red Dwarf', Gavin and ben in their Japanese 998cc, Chris in 'Skippy' the Australian import Clubman (awesome car with lots of subtle differences to UK spec), me in trig and Scott in his mid 90s Jap import Mini tartan (complete with air con and green tartan interior).  Gary turned up before we left in his mint condition 1275GT in Damask Red too! Various stops on our way to an overnight stop in Northwich, (somewhere in Englandshire Im told)  Skippy was burning oil, so Chris was a busy man topping it up regularly. Still looked tidyafter a few hundred miles in roasting heat and bug splatter. ...so it was straight to the pub next to the Travelodge for a free pint!  

Up early the next morning to get down to Kent.  More fuel stops en route.... and eventually we arrived in Kent, to find a massive queue to get in.  So we took out our camping chairs and shared stories with friends and new faces whilst we waited to gain entry.  

By the time we got in it was nearly dark..... in the end it took 3 and a half hours from arrival to entry.  Bad planning on behalf of the Southern Mini Owners Club. And heres a few pics of the car at the show.  Most from my phone as I stupidly didn't take any pics of it on my camera.  Hopefully someone else has and I find some pics online soon. Dave from the Club was dressed as Mighty Mouse for the entire day on Saturday.  Kinda gutted Aaron didnt get a pic without him in it to be honest. Then as a form of revenge for Trig farting black, watery soot (after a night of heavy rain meant my exhausts filled with water...) onto Nicol's nice and clean cream shorts, he put bits of duct tape thread onto the car to look like scratches.  And yes, I did fall for it and yes, it was bloody funny. Thats the only pics of the IMM itself I took (I spent most of my time taking video and drinking into the small hours of the morning) but there are a few from the route back.  Exiting the site was a nightmare, as the dual carriageway was shut due to an accident, so we were sent down a tiny single lane country road.  Jams ahoy!  

Somewhere in deepest darkest England...

 I learned as we were near the Dartford tunnel (The Dartford tunnel was epic.  Down to 10mph, up to 40mph, pop pop pop on the over-run galore) that truckers hold no respect whatsoever for small cars, so I bailed on the convoy for fear of getting wiped out and arrived an hour ahead of everyone else at our overnight stop at Lancaster. It helps on the motorways to have a relatively powerful and torquey 1275cc engine when compared to the 998cc cars. Up early the next morning for the final stretch home and grabbed a pic as we crossed the border. ....and finally I got home after a total of 1276 miles, in uncomfortable bucket seats, with solid suspension and barely any sound proofing.  A great trip and it was done without a single fault with the car.  Cant say much better than that!   Next up, we have Cleanfest at Fife Airport where I've got a prestigious hanger spot.  After that its time to take it off the road and get that engine and box seen to.....thats all folks!